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Two full-blown expansions for the epic RPG.




The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is almost here. That means the game is pretty much finished, and the devs are about to take a deep breath while CD-presses and hype machines slowly wind up to take things through the home stretch. It's not gold yet, but now that development is coming to an end, the CD PROJEKT RED team is ready to start their work on two new, ambitious monster-hunting expansions.

The expansions will be called <span class="bold">Hearts of Stone</span>, and <span class="bold">Blood and Wine</span>. Combined, they'll offer over 30 hours of new adventures for Geralt, and the latter introduces a whole new major area to roam. More items, gear, and characters (including a few familiar faces) will all be crafted with the same attention to detail as the game itself.
<span class="bold">Hearts of Stone</span> is a 10-hour adventure across the wilds of No Man's Land and the nooks of Oxenfurt. The secretive Man of Glass has a contract for you - you'll need all your smarts and cunning to untangle a thick web of deceit, investigate the mystery, and emerge in one piece.
<span class="bold"><span class="bold">Blood and Wine</span></span> is the big one, introducing an all-new, playable in-game region to The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. It will take you about 20 hours to discover all of Toussaint, a land of wine, untainted by war. And to uncover the dark, bloody secret behind an atmosphere of carefree indulgence.







There used to be a time when buying an add-on disk or expansion for your game really meant something. That's what CD PROJEKT RED are going for, it's about bringing that old feeling back. You can take it from our very own iWi, (that's Marcin Iwinski, co-founder of CD PROJEKT RED):

"We’ve said in the past that if we ever decide to release paid content, it will be vast in size and represent real value for the money. Both of our expansions offer more hours of gameplay than quite a few standalone games out there.”

Hearts of Stone is expected to premiere this October, while Blood and Wine is slated for release in the first quarter of 2016, so there's still plenty of time ahead. We're offering you the <span class="bold">Expansion Pass</span> now - it's a chance to pre-order the two expansions and even show your support for the devs. But we can't stress Marcin Iwinski's words enough:

“Don’t buy it if you have any doubts. Wait for reviews or play The Witcher and see if you like it first. As always, it’s your call."







The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is just over a month away, and you can pre-order the game right now - it's a particularly great deal if you own the previous Witcher games and take advantage of the additional fan discount (both The Witcher and The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings are 80% off right now!). You can also take a rather unique refresher course on the universe with The Witcher Adventure Game at a 40% discount, all until Thursday, 4:59 PM GMT.
Post edited April 07, 2015 by Chamb
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Hello Everyone,

First of all let me thank you for your feedback. Although a bit harsh at times, it is always very passionate, emotional and we really do appreciate it.

I wanted to add a few words to the original press release, which will hopefully shed some more light on the Expansions and the timing of the announcement.

Let me start with the Expansions themselves. The work on The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is almost done and we are waiting for the final certifications. Thanks to it we were able to allocate part of the team onto the expansions. Yes, we have been thinking about it for some time, as with over 250 people on the Witcher team good planning is essential.

Rest assured, there is no hidden agenda or cutting out any content from the game. Both Expansions are being built at this very moment, from the ground up – hence the release dates long after the launch of Wild Hunt. We develop them in-house by the same team, which was working on Wild Hunt. This is the best guarantee we can give you that our goal is to deliver both the story and production values on par with the main game.

Now, on the timing of the announcement - in other words “why now” and not - let’s say – “a few months after the release of Wild Hunt”. The reason is very simple: we want to get the word out about the Expansions to as many gamers as possible out there. There is no better time for it than during the apex of the Marketing & PR campaign of the game. Doing it sometime after the release would mean that our reach would be much smaller.

Yes, we are a business, and yes, we would love to see both the game and the Expansions selling well. Having said that, we always put gamers first and are actually quite paranoid about the fact that whatever we offer is honest, of highest quality, and represents good value for your hard earn buck.

Yes, these are just my words. So let me repeat myself from the original release: if you still have any doubts -- don’t buy the Expansions. Wait for reviews or play The Witcher and see if you like it first. As always, it’s your call.

Cheers,

Marcin
Post edited April 09, 2015 by Destro
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Davane: I think that, ultimately, many people will just feel that it is too early to sign on the dotted line for more paid for content. It's a bit like paying for your dessert with your starter in a restaurant - few people object to paying for starter and dessert AFTER a meal, few do so beforehand.
I think it may have been better if they had just announced the expansion plans and prices, but not actually made it available for pre-order yet. It does give it more of a money grab feel.
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Calib4n: I never post on forums, but I have to respond to this.

2316 days of GOG membership ruined by a single second of looking at the front page.

Well played, well played indeed.
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mkess: Yes, they did it ...again.

First regional pricing.

Next regional censorship.

And now waiting for the GotY version.

And in future we are waitting for GOG DRM....
Technically, GOG Galaxy is "GOG DRM"...
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altshift_kill: Expansions are vastly different then DLCs... it saddens me that kids nowadays don't know what true expansions were like /tears...

An Expansion is a huge piece of content that continues stories and has just one price. A DLC is when they release tons of content that should be all rights be free but charge you for it like skins, weapons, a tiny 30 minute story etc....

DLC=s Content that should be free but we feel like milking you for all that its worth.

Expansion (when done right) =s Content worth paying for at a reasonable price and that no one could reasonably ask to be given for free.

Capish ?!
Erm ... no. By using the word "DLC" they forgot to define the differences. If it is a thing like we called "addon" in the past, that is worth real money or some crap like a new map or costume, weapon, TEXTURE -- they sell TEXTURES!

Today all things are defined as "DLC", with no way to tell them apart.

Gearbox made some real good DLC -- addons for borderlands 1 and 2.
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LynetteC: Looks like the UK are even more screwed than Australia with these prices. :-(
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HypersomniacLive: *cough*

* Regional price for Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, The - Game + Expansion Pass in AU: $96.39 instead of $79.99
* Regional price for Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, The - Game + Expansion Pass in BR: $59.99 instead of $79.99
* Regional price for Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, The - Game + Expansion Pass in CA: $64.99 instead of $79.99
* Regional price for Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, The - Game + Expansion Pass in CH: $81.99 instead of $79.99
* Regional price for Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, The - Game + Expansion Pass in CZ: $74.29 instead of $79.99
* Regional price for Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, The - Game + Expansion Pass in DE: $81.99 instead of $79.99
* Regional price for Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, The - Game + Expansion Pass in GB: $95.79 instead of $79.99
* Regional price for Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, The - Game + Expansion Pass in NO: $81.99 instead of $79.99
* Regional price for Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, The - Game + Expansion Pass in PL: $49.19 instead of $79.99
* Regional price for Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, The - Game + Expansion Pass in RU: $35.29 instead of $79.99
* Regional price for Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, The - Game + Expansion Pass in SE: $81.99 instead of $79.99
* Regional price for Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, The - Game + Expansion Pass in UA: $32.99 instead of $79.99
* Regional price for Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, The - Game + Expansion Pass in UZ: $35.29 instead of $79.99
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HypersomniacLive:
I'm glad I don't live in Australia.
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Vestin: Meh, "PR"... I prefer to focus on facts. In my eyes all of this is more of a case of CDP being honest than PR being incompetent, though you could argue that one implies the other ;P.
Well, fact is that when someone calls me and tells me I've won a lottery and can now purchase his sets of knives for 100 bucks instead of 200, I instantly lose any interest or trust I could have had in them in the first place. If CDP were honest, they'd have to miss how market evolved during past 10 years, and I highly doubt that. I'm mostly here because I kind of enjoy the shitstorm tho - a long time ago, GOG is just another store I can purchase games from, not a goto place for ... Anything. Oh well, I'll just allow the "discussion" to carry on.
There`s a few folk over on the MMO Chimp forums a bit dubious about this move too, sort of not surprisingly.

(last few pages)

On a side note, nice fail steam.....
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wtchr.jpg (212 Kb)
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mkess: Yes, they did it ...again.

First regional pricing.

Next regional censorship.

And now waiting for the GotY version.

And in future we are waitting for GOG DRM....
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Davane: Technically, GOG Galaxy is "GOG DRM"...
Erm, no it's not. Galaxy is simply a delivery method. The games are exactly the same to the ones installed via standalone installer.
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georgealmighty: Shitty practices by AAA publishers destroyed both the (good IMO if implemented right) ideas of oxpansions and DLC. This thread is just CDPR getting hit by collateral damage.
This wouldn't have happened if GOG had not alienated its greatest supporters by earlier introducing regional pricing, regional banning, cutting off communications, and leaving our libraries for weeks in a half-broken state. These supporters would have been here to hold the fort; now they are instead leading the assault. There is just so many times you can be dishonest and supercilious to people.
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This to me smells like a cash grab steal BEFORE the main game is even out, you are insulting your potential customer userbase and announcing this just before Witcher 3 goes gold, I'm sorry but this could have waited until summer before you revealed it OR at the very least reveal the 12 other free DLC packs prior to this but no, you decided to steal money from the players...

Why do I say steal? Because this is the ENHANCED EDITION CONTENT....AKA what we got for FREE after Witcher 1 and Witcher 2, errrrrr yeah 20 quid is not free, what the game is not making you enough money? You are brain dead stupid enough to ask for more money before main game is out? That is just plain crazy to me and makes zero sense, this is a game breaker for me and has now altered my stance on whether to pre-order or not, thanks a lot CD Project Red....
What about those who preordered the collector's edition? Do we get it for free cause we paid a hell of a lot more than just for the game and expansion put togheter!
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USERNAME:Davane#Q&_^Q&Q#GROUP:4#Q&_^Q&Q#LINK:324#Q&_^Q&Q#Technically, GOG Galaxy is "GOG DRM"...#Q&_^Q&Q#LINK:324#Q&_^Q&Q#
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Not if galaxy is going to be needed to play the games (regardless if its multiplayer or singleplayer). In that case its definitely drm.
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USERNAME:Davane#Q&_^Q&Q#GROUP:4#Q&_^Q&Q#LINK:324#Q&_^Q&Q#Technically, GOG Galaxy is "GOG DRM"...#Q&_^Q&Q#LINK:324#Q&_^Q&Q#
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Not according to this.
(Not related to the DRM point).
Post edited April 07, 2015 by mrkgnao
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fishbaits: There`s a few folk over on the MMO Chimp forums a bit dubious about this move too, sort of not surprisingly.

(last few pages)

On a side note, nice fail steam.....
Maybe they thought: Hmm, they are selling an expansion. Selling expansions is not logical unless you have first released the game, so that would mean: The game is already released. Whoa, let's amend that by setting the release date at today. There, looks better now.
>> Trrring...Trrrrring <<
Yes?...
Oi, where is me bloody game?! Huh? ; paid for it, you released it and I can't get it?! Nicely done lads, prepare for a riot...
As an interesting (maybe, to some people) side-note, we actually know, statistically, what GOG users think of this sort of thing, or at least what they thought of it two years ago. Remember the survey they did? They asked about season passes, and got almost a perfect split: 52% of users were in favor of having them if it meant getting newer games, 48% opposed.
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BadDecissions: 52% of users were in favor of having them if it meant getting newer games, 48% opposed.
Oh yeah, that survey. I wonder what would happen if they left out the words "if it meant getting newer games". Good wording is quite essential to getting results you want.